To the churches in Galatia, from Paul, an Apostle whose commission is not from men and is given, not by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead;

May God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, bless you and give you peace. For Christ, to rescue us from this present wicked age,

Gave himself for our sins, in accordance with the will of God and Father,

I am astonished at your so soon deserting him, who called you through the love of Christ, for a different 'Good News,'

Which is really no Good News at all. But then, I know that there are people who are harassing you, and who want to pervert the Good News of the Christ.

Yet even if we--or if an angel from Heaven were to tell you any other 'Good News' than that which we told you, may he be accursed!

We have said it before, and I repeat it now--If any one tells you a 'Good News' other than that which you received, may he be accursed!

Is this, I ask, trying to conciliate men, or God? Am I seeking to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I should not be a servant of Christ.

I would remind you, Brothers, that the Good News which I told is no mere human invention.

You heard, no doubt, of my conduct when I was devoted to Judaism--how I persecuted the Church of God to an extent beyond belief, and made havoc of it,

But when God, who had set me apart even before my birth, and who called me by his love,

Saw fit to reveal his Son in me, so that I might tell the Good News of him among the Gentiles, then at once, instead of consulting any human being,

(As to what I am now writing to you, I call God to witness that I am speaking the truth).

All that they had heard was--'The man who once persecuted us is now telling the Good News of the very Faith of which he once made havoc.'

And they praised God on my account.

It was in obedience to a revelation that I went; and I laid before the Apostles the Good News that I am proclaiming among the Gentiles. I did this privately before those who are thought highly of, for fear that I might possibly be taking, or might have already taken, a course which would prove useless.

Why, we did not for a moment yield submission to them, that the Truth of the Good News might be yours always!

Of those who are thought somewhat highly of--what they once were makes no difference to me; God does not recognize human distinctions--those, I say, who are thought highly of added nothing to my Message.

On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the Good News for the Gentiles, just as Peter had been for the Jews.

But, when I saw that they were not dealing straightforwardly with the Truth of the Good News, I said to Peter, before them all, "If you, who were born a Jew, adopt Gentile customs, instead of Jewish, why are you trying to compel the Gentile converts to adopt Jewish customs?"

I, indeed, through Law became dead to Law, in order to live for God.

I have been crucified with Christ. So it is no longer I that live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and, as for my present earthly life, I am living it by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

I do not reject the love of God. If righteousness comes through Law, then there was no need for Christ to die!

It is just as it was with Abraham--'He had faith in God, and his faith was regarded by God as righteousness.'

And Scripture, foreseeing that God would pronounce the Gentiles righteous as the result of faith, foretold the Good News to Abraham in the words--'Through thee all the Gentiles shall be blessed.'

Again, it is evident that no one is pronounced righteous before God through Law, for we read--'Through faith the righteous man shall find Life.'

My point is this--An agreement already confirmed by God cannot be canceled by the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, so as to cause the promise to be set aside.

If our heritage is the result of Law, then it has ceased to be the result of a promise. Yet God conferred it on Abraham by a promise.

Now mediation implies more than one person, but God is one only.

Does that set the Law in opposition to God's promises? Heaven forbid! For, if a Law had been given capable of bestowing Life, then righteousness would have actually owed its existence to Law.

For you are all Sons of God, through your faith in Christ Jesus.

But, when the full time came, God sent his Son--born a woman's child, born subject to Law--

And it is because you are sons that God sent into our hearts the Spirit of his Son, with the cry--'Abba, our Father.'

You, therefore, are no longer a slave, but a son; and, if a son, then an heir also, by God's appointment.

Yet formerly, in your ignorance of God, you became slaves to 'gods' which were no gods.

But now that you have found God--or, rather, have been found by him--how is it that you are turning back to that poor and feeble puerile teaching, to which yet once again you are wanting to become slaves?

You remember that it was owing to bodily infirmity that on the first occasion I told you the Good News.

And as for what must have tried you in my condition, it did not inspire you with scorn or disgust, but you welcomed me as if I had been an angel of God--or Christ Jesus himself!

You were once making good progress! Who has hindered you from obeying the Truth?

Feelings of envy, drunkenness, revelry, and the like. And I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who indulge in such things will have no place in the Kingdom of God.

Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. What a man sows that he will reap.

May all who rule their conduct by this principle find peace and mercy--they who are the Israel of God.